Bush hits foes of alien bill

President Bush yesterday rebuked members of his own political party for trying to “frighten people” into opposing his immigration bill, prompting a quick backlash from some Republicans.

“Those determined to find fault with this bill will always be able to look at a narrow slice of it and find something they don’t like,” Mr. Bush said, speaking at a training center for immigration enforcement officials in Glynco, Ga.

“If you want to kill the bill, if you don’t want to do what’s right for America, you can pick one little aspect out of it, you can use it to frighten people. Or you can show leadership and solve this problem once and for all,” Mr. Bush said.

The response to Republicans who say Mr. Bush wants amnesty for illegal aliens provoked the ire of conservative organizers and legislators alike.

“That’s hurtful language,” said Sen. Jeff Sessions, Alabama Republican. “If the bill did what they promised it was going to do, I’d support it. I’m for comprehensive reform, but it has to serve the national interests, not political interest.”

“I don’t think it’s courage to support this flawed bill. I think sometimes it takes a bit of courage to resist this kind of short-term reform, so we can create a system that can actually work,” Mr. Sessions said.

Rep. Brian P. Bilbray, California Republican and chairman of the Immigration Reform Caucus, took issue with Mr. Bush’s assertion that critics are objecting to a “narrow slice” of the bill.

“Amnesty for 12-20 million illegal immigrants isn’t a ‘narrow slice’ … it’s the whole darn pie,” Mr. Bilbray said. “What part of illegal does the president not understand? The American people … don’t want another amnesty.”

Paul Weyrich, founder of the conservative Free Congress Foundation, said that “there are legitimate reasons to oppose this legislation, and I don’t think that it behooves the president to call people names or make accusations against them if they disagree with him.”

“He is angering people beyond belief to the point that the Republican Party is going to split in two, thanks to him. If this bill passes, the Republicans will not recover from it,” Mr. Weyrich said.

An aide to one Republican senator who is usually a close White House ally said that Mr. Bush had questioned the patriotism of lawmakers who are concerned about granting amnesty to illegal aliens.

“[It] not only stretches the bounds of credibility with conservative Republicans but in fact, it further erodes their confidence in this administration,” said the aide, who asked that his name not be used.

Mr. Weyrich said the president was repeating the mistake he made in 2005 when he nominated Harriet E. Miers, Mr. Bush’s White House counsel at the time, to the Supreme Court. Miss Miers removed herself from consideration after intense opposition from conservatives.

The deep division among Republicans is clear from the experience of South Carolina’s two Republican senators. Sen. Lindsey Graham, who is supporting Mr. Bush on immigration, was booed by Republican activists last week, while Sen. Jim DeMint has been greeted with standing ovations at his events over the last week for opposing Mr. Bush on this issue.

“People are coming up and patting him on the back in the grocery store,” said Mr. DeMint’s spokesman, Wesley Denton.